title: Surgical safety checklist and operating room efficiency: results from a large multispecialty tertiary care hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) improves patient safety and outcomes; however, barriers to effective use include the perceived negative impact on operating room (OR) efficiency. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of SSC implementation on OR efficiency.
  
  
  METHODS
  All operations at our large multispecialty tertiary care hospital were reviewed for 1-year pre- and 1-year post-SSC implementation. OR efficiency included operating room time, operation time, first starts on time, same-day cancellations, and OR disposable cost.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 35,570 operations were reviewed: 17,204 pre-SSC and 18,366 post-SSC. There was no difference between groups for operating room time (P = .93), operation time (P = .66), first starts on time (P = .15), and same-day cancellations (P = .57). The mean OR disposable cost was significantly lower ($70/operation) for the post-SSC group (P < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The implementation of an SSC does not negatively impact OR efficiency and should not be considered a barrier to effective use. Our data suggest that SSC use can reduce overall cost per surgical procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinic, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine, 2401 South 31st Street, Temple, TX 76508, USA. Electronic address: hpapaconstantinou@sw.org.
authors.forename: Harry T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Papaconstantinou
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Smythe
authors.forename: Scott I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Reznik
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sibbitt
authors.forename: Hania
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wehbe-Janek
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000592:standards*; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000592:standards*; D013781:Texas
keywords: Cost; Efficiency; Operating room; Operative services; Surgical Safety Checklist; World Health Organization